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Game 9
Niagara Purple Eagles (3-5, 0-0 MAAC) vs. New Hampshire Wildcats (2-6, 0-0 America East)
Tuesday, December 5 - 7:00 p.m.
Lundholm Gymnasium – University of New Hampshire
Broadcast: ESPN3 – Brendan Glasheen and John Scheinman
Radio: AM 1400 WWWS – Todd Callen
 
The Niagara Purple Eagles return to the road for a meeting with the New Hampshire Wildcats on Tuesday, December 5.
 
Scene Setter
•  After opening the season with four straight road games, Niagara played four straight games at the Gallagher Center.
•  Niagara went 2-2 in the four-game homestand with wins over Alabama A&M and Army. 
•  Niagara opens December on the road as the Purple Eagles will alternate home/away games in their next five games.
•  Niagara and New Hampshire renew their series for the first time since the 1988-89 season. The Purple Eagles have a healthy advantage in the series, winning 12 of the previous 17 encounters.
 
Tipoff Tidbits
•  For the second consecutive week, Matt Scott was named MAAC Player of the Week announced on December 4. Scott led the Purple Eagles with 27 points per game, 4.0 assists per game and 2.0 steals per game while also averaging 9.0 rebounds per game as Niagara split games against Army and Buffalo.
•  Matt Scott, who is SECOND in the nation in scoring, led all scorers with a career-high 36 points at BYU. The 36 points are the most points by a Purple Eagle since Antoine Mason's 38 points against Marist on March 6, 2014.
•  Matt Scott is 15th on the career scoring list and is 21 points away from tying Garry Jordan ('81) for 14th.
•  Kahlil Dukes is SECOND in the NCAA in career active free throw percentage (.910) and is FIRST in the conference in free throw percentage this season (.925).
•  Dominic Robb is seventh on the career blocks list (112), and is one behind Benson Egemonye for sixth place.
•  Niagara leads the MAAC in points per game (84.0), free throws made (156),  total 3-pointers made (74), and in fewest turnovers per game (10.8), and is second in free throw percentage (.750), 3-point field goal percentage (.372) and blocks (29).
 
It Takes Two
•  Matt Scott (25.6) and Kahlil Dukes (21.0) are the top scoring pair in the nation, ahead of pairs from Arizona, Duke and Oakland. Scott and Dukes are first and second, respectively, in scoring in the MAAC through eight games. The duo is accounting for 56 percent of Niagara's scoring.
•  The duo is the only pair in the NCAA to have six 20-plus points games this season, which lead the MAAC and is tied for fifth in the nation.
• In the MAAC, the pair ranks in the top two in field goals made, top three in field goals attempted, and the top four in free throws made. 
 
On The Court
New Hampshire Wildcats (2-6, 0-0 America East)
•  The Wildcats snapped a six-game losing streak in their last game with a 75-59 win over Bryant on December 2.
•  New Hampshire was picked fifth in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll and senior forward Tanner Leissner was selected to the preseason all-conference team for the third straight season.                            
•  Tanner Leissner leads the team in scoring at 19 points per game and is second in rebounds with 8.3 per game.
•  Iba Camera is averaging a double-double (11.9 ppg and 10.6 rpg).
 
Against the Wildcats (Niagara leads 12-5)
•  Niagara has dominated the series with New Hampshire winning 12 of the 17 all-time meetings.
•  The teams played each other from 1980-1989 as part of the ECAC, but haven't played since January 1989.
•  Niagara is 5-3 at New Hampshire and has won 10 of the last 11 meetings.
 

The Series	Niagara Leads 12-5
Last Game	January 21, 1989
	New Hampshire 81, Niagara 80
Last Niagara win	January 17, 1989
	Niagara 71, New Hampshire 61
Last New Hampshire win	January 21, 1989
	New Hampshire 81, Niagara 80
Last Niagara win at New Hampshire	January 17, 1989
	Niagara 71, New Hampshire 61
Last New Hampshire win at Home	December 20, 1983
	New Hampshire 78, Niagara 66
Current streak	New Hampshire, W1
Coach Casey vs. New Hampshire	First Meeting

 
Against The America East
•  Niagara is 50-26 against the current members of the America East Conference.
 
Back-To-Back
•  Matt Scott was named MAAC Player of the Week on consecutive weeks (November 27 and December 4).
•  Scott is the first Purple Eagle to earn multiple player of the week honors since the 2013-14 season.
•  Scott collected his second player of the week award after leading the Purple Eagles with 27 points per game, 4.0 assists per game and 2.0 steals per game while also averaging 9.0 rebounds per game in games against Army and Buffalo.
•  Scott averaged 30 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals in three games (BYU, Alabama A&M, UT Arlington). Scott shot 54.2 percent from the fi eld, 39.1 percent from the 3-point line and 76.3 percent from the free-throw line.
•  He scored a career-high 36 points at BYU and made a season-high 13 free throws against Alabama A&M.